Friday, June 20, 2008 9:51 PM CDT
Coles native will be voice of Lincoln in radio spots
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
Go to our multimedia page to hear the voice of Lincoln.
SPRINGFIELD — Hobie Woolen adds a slight drawl, a subtle change in his voice, while reciting “a house divided against itself can not stand.”
He’s not trying to sound exactly like Abraham Lincoln as much as he’s trying to make people think of Lincoln’s story. It’s a focus on “delivery and emphasis” to help people think about the 16th president and the upcoming bicentennial of his birth.
Woolen, a former Mattoon resident now living near Springfield, combined his own passion for Lincoln history along with his background in broadcasting to become the voice of Lincoln. He was chosen as the winner of an Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial contest to record radio public service announcements promoting the observance.
“I was excited just knowing that my voice was good enough to be considered to represent our greatest president ever,” Woolen said. “I’ve studied Lincoln for many years. His life is just utterly amazing to me.”
Woolen lived in Mattoon until he was in fifth grade, then returned to attend Lake Land College a little more than 20 years ago. He majored in radio and TV broadcasting, and an 18-year career in radio that followed included jobs in Paris, Terre Haute and other places in Indiana and in Virginia.
He then moved to the Springfield area and now operates HC3 Productions, an audio and visual recording studio. It was living near the state capital “where I really became enamored with Abraham Lincoln,” he said, being able to go to places “and actually walk in his footsteps.”
The state Bicentennial Commission conducted the contest to promote the observance of Lincoln’s 200th birthday next year. Woolen submitted a recording but didn’t hear anything for several weeks, and said he thought, “at least I tried.”
But at the end of last month, he and three other finalists were invited to a studio to audition, and about a week later, he was told he won. The five scripts he recorded during the audition will be included in more than 50 one-minute public service announcements the commission is sending to radio stations throughout the state.
Dave Blanchette, commission spokesman and one of the contest’s judges, said the judges wanted someone “folksy” and easy to listen to who could convey Lincoln’s “Midwest story-telling quality.” The goal wasn’t to try to match Lincoln’s voice, which some people say was rather high-pitched, he explained.
“Hobie was the the closest to what we were seeking,” Blanchette said. “It was more to put forth Mr. Lincoln’s legacy and ideals and the story-telling quality of his voice to get people excited about the Lincoln bicentennial.”
Woolen called it a “big responsibility” to try to relay to people what Lincoln was about. He said he thinks of Lincoln as a complex man, and used different voice tones during the PSAs, speaking in a “somber” tone while talking about the death of Lincoln’s son Willie but turning more “humorous” when telling son Tad about the family’s goats.
“It’s all about inflection,” he said. “It’s all in the tone of voice. I want people to understand what Mr. Lincoln was about.”
Blanchette said some of the PSAs have already aired and they’re scheduled to be broadcast through the summer of next year. The commission is asking every radio station in Illinois to air them, he said. He also said the commission will likely have Woolen do other narrations of Lincoln’s voice for other events planned for the bicentennial.
Woolen said he still has family living in Mattoon: his father and stepmother, Chuck and Sophie Woolen, and an uncle and aunt, Bob and Brenda Stevens.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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